Improvement in brick-machines



UNITED STATES f PATENT OFFICE.

ALEXANDER FERGUSON, DAVID RALSTON, AND VGEORGE HILDRETH, OF TROY,

' NEW YORK.

IMPROVEMENT IN BRICK-MACHINES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 116,942, dated July 11,1871.

To all 'whom 'Lt may concern: Beit known that we, ALEXANDER FERGUSONDAVID RALsToN, and GEORGE HILDRETH, of Troy,inthe county of Rensselaerand in the State of New York, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Brick-Machines; and do hereby declare that the followingis a full, clear,

and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawing and to the letters of reference marked thereon making a part ofthis specification.

The nature of our invention consists in the construction and arrangementof the device in al brick-machine whereby the molds are removed afterthey, have been filled, and also in the mode of packing the plunger orpiston, all of which will be hereinafter more fully set forth.

In order to enable others skilled in the art to which our inventionappertains to make and use the same, we will now proceed to describe itsconstruction and operation, referring to the a-nnexed drawing, in which-Figure l is a side elevation of a brick-machine, showing` the box intransverse vertical sec-tion. Fig. 2 is a front view of the same,showing the box in longitudinal vertical section. Fig. 3 is an enlargedvertical section ofthe upper end of the rod connecting the power-shaftwith the device for removing the molds, and Figfet is aplan view of thebox and plunger or piston.

Arepresents the box in which the clay is placed. Through said box passesan upright shaft, B, to be provided with the usual knives for cuttingand forcing the clay into the box O where the plunger or1 piston D worksup and down. On the upper end of the shaft B is a large wheel, E, withcogs on its under side around the circumference, and there should bealso attached a sweep, crank, or other device for the attachment of thedesired power to run the machine. The wheel E gears with two pinions, ca', upon two shafts, b b', the shaft b extending to the front and theshaft b to one side of the box A. Upon the front end of the shaft b is acrank, d, connected, by suitable rods G, with the plunger or piston D.This -plun ger is L-shaped, as shown in Fig. 1 an d provided around itsedges with packing-plates e e, or rather the horizontal part of theplunger is on the front edge and ends provided with said packing-plates.The plates e c are bent so as to form an angle of more than ninetyTdegrees, and attached in the manner shown by bolts. Their peculiarconstruction-that is, being larger than a right angle-allows them tospring outward by the pressure of the clay and fill up the box O as itssides are worn by use, thus rendering the pressbox self-packing andpreventing any leakage of clay from the box. To the front side of themudbox A is attached a spring-plate, j', which bears against thevertical part of the L-shaped plunger and acts as a scraper to clean themud or clay off of the same. Upon the outer end ofthe shaft b is acrank, d', connected, by means of a rod made in two parts, H H, with acrank, h, upon the end of a horizontal shaft,I, located in the lowerpart of the frame supporting the mud-box A. This shaft runs from side toside, and is provided with two arms, J J, connected at their outer endsby a rod or bar, lc. The armsJ J pass up through the slotted table K,upon which the molds M M are placed, and the rod k is above said table,so that as the machine is in operation and the arms J J, by theirconnections with the power, obtain a motion back and forth, the rod lcwill strike the molds, carrying the filled mold out from under the box Cand the next mold to be filled in under said box. The outer end of thecrank /L is en larged and slotted, as shown in Fig. 1, and in said slotworks the pin from the lower end of the connecting-rod, so that afterthe rod la has been moved backward away from the molds it will remainstationary for a few moments while the attendant places another mold onthe table immediately in front of said rod, thus this rod has not acontinuous reciprocating motion but an intermittent reciprocatingmotion. The two parts H H of the connecting-rod are constructed in thefollowing manner: The upper part H, which is attached to the crank d',forms a socket, as shown in Fig. 3, in which the upper end of the lowerpart H is inserted. The lower end or mouth of the socket H is enlarged,and in this enlargement is pivoted a lever, L, the upper end of which isprovided with a tooth, m, which engages with notch, t', in the rod H. Tothe lower end of the lever L is attached a cord, n, which passes over apulley, p, andhas aweight, N, attached to it. This Weight holds thelever in proper position, so as to retain the rod H in its place in thesocket H, except when stones, gravel, or other similar substances in theclay should block up the molds and prevent them from being moved. Then,by the resistance upon the rod lo, the lever L rises so as to disengagethe tooth m from the notch z', allowing the rod H to drop down. Anadjustable stop, o", upon said rod prevents it from dropping entirelyout of the socket. As soon as the obstruction in the mold is removed thelever L, by means of the Weighted cord7 engages itself with theconnecting-rod and the machine Works as before. It is evident that thelever L may be arranged in various other Ways to accomplish the sameresult; hence We do not confine ourselves to the employment of theWeighted cord, but Wish to include any arrangement whereby the same isheld in position and allowed to yield or disengage itself When.obstructions occur, thus preventing breakage of an y p art ofthemachinery. For instance, the lower end of the lever may be turned up ward and a Weight either placed thereon or attached to it 5 or one ormore springs may be arranged to operate in the same manner or for thesame purpose.

Having thus fully described our invention, What We claim as new, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

the purposes herein set forth.

4. The combination ofthe connecting-rod H H', crank h with enlargedandrslotted end, shaft I, arms, J .Land rod k, all constructed andarranged to operate substantially as and for the purposes herein setforth.

In Witness th at We claim the foregoing We have hereunto set our handsthis 27 th day of May, 1871.

ALEXANDER FERGUSON. DAVID RALSTON. GEORGE HILDRETH.

litnesses C. L. EVERT, GHAiiLns D. KELLUM.

